The name of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra first appeared on a Prague concert programme on January 4, 1896. The concert was conducted by Antonín Dvorák and it was held in the magnificent Rudolfinum hall, the home of the Orchestra to this day. From its very beginnings the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra has been ranked among the premier symphony orchestras of Europe. Throughout its history, the Orchestra has enjoyed collaborations with many world-class guest conductors including Herbert von Karajan, Karl Böhm, Claudio Abbado, Sergiu Celibidache, and Christoph von Dohnányi. The hundreds of soloists who have worked with the orchestra have been of an equally high calibre: they include Pablo Casals, Arturo Benedetti-Michelangeli, Sviatoslav Richter, David Oistrakh and Itzhak Perlman.

The unique character of the Orchestra, however, was moulded by seven chief conductors. In the years after the first world war, under Václav Talich, the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra became recognised as one of the world's finest symphony orchestras. Talich was followed by Rafael Kubelík in 1934 who guided the Orchestra through the grim years of the occupation. In 1950 Karel Ančerl was appointed to lead the orchestra and held the post of chief conductor until 1968. Following Ancerl there have been Václav Neumann, Jiří Belohlávěk, Gerd Albrecht, Vladimir Ashkenazy (1998-2003) and Zdeněk Mácal (2003-2007). From 2009, this position will be assumed by Eliahu Inbal.